In May I went to Israel on the Brandeis Shorashim Birthright trip. Birthright, for anyone who doesn't already know, is an organization funded through philanthropy that sends young Jewish people from across the world on a free 10-day trip to Israel. Its purpose is to strengthen the diaspora Jewish connection to Israel, introduce young Jews to Israelis, and educate Jews about their history.

As if straight out of a postcard, I rode a camel in the desert, hiked up Masada at 4 a.m., and got ripped off buying souvenirs on Jerusalem's Ben Yehuda Street. I made new friends both from Brandeis and Israel and was reminded of my love of Israeli culture and cuisine. I had a great time, but I feel kind of bad about it.

My guilt comes from the ethical dilemma I always feel when my actions do not perfectly align with my personal morality. I really should be a vegan, but I'm too lazy and I just like ice cream too much. It's almost impossible to live in our society and not feel this constant nagging guilt. Every time I drink coffee out of a paper cup, drive in a car that churns pollutants into the atmosphere and steal music off the Internet, I feel the familiar pangs of shame. Of course, they're not strong enough to actually keep me from doing these things all the time anyway, but that's a rant for another column.

I'm bringing up this particular kind of guilt because I was feeling a similar way before—and after—I went on Birthright this summer. I was wary of what I knew to be the subliminal (and sometimes outright) political agenda of the program, and I was uneasy about joining a program I knew had a reputation of attempting to subtly brainwash its participants. Because going on the trip would mean inadvertently supporting the organization's mission, I didn't want to be part of the whole "machine." I had heard from friends who went on the trip in previous years that it provided a narrow account of the history of Israel and the Israel-Palestinian conflict. I'm not sure how widely known this political agenda is among young American Jews. Many of the Jewish people I've talked to about Birthright seemed aware of this part of the organization's reputation, but I'm sure most know it mainly as just a great opportunity to visit Israel free of charge.

The fact that Birthright often presents a limited presentation of Israel's culpability in its many internal and diplomatic conflicts has not deterred over 250,000 people from participating since its first trip in 1994.

Several recent articles from Salon.com and The Nation, to name a few, have explored the "hidden agenda" of Birthright and quoted participants who noticed they were being presented with a one-sided story. The accounts have a similar theme: Birthright, aside from requiring a basic curriculum and suggested trip plan, gives a large amount of freedom and authority to each trip's tour guide. The Birthright alumni featured in these articles describe how their Israeli guides would speak about the Palestinian people with harsh "us versus them" language and state opinions about the Palestinian grab for "our land" while painting Israel as only a victim. Sometimes, speaking casually to a group of 20-year-olds, Israeli guides presented their personal political opinions—usually conservative and defensive of Israel—as universal truths.

We were never told anything blatantly inaccurate on my Birthright trip. My experience aligned most closely with these stories of participant exposure to Birthright's political agenda only when our tour guide, Amit, recounted stories of Israeli military victories without much context to explain how Israel had ended up in the midst of simultaneous invasions from several neighboring Arab states at once.

The "educational" portion of the trip left out many important details about Palestinian claims to the land, and I am sure any participant without prior knowledge of Israel's foreign relations and struggle with the Palestinian government would have left the trip believing in Israel's total innocence. To Birthright's credit, though, the point of these educational detours always seemed to focus more on instilling pride in participants than providing us with a textbook account of Israeli history.

The fact is, I did go on the trip despite my slight uneasiness with what I had heard predeparture. In the end, the allure of a free trip to Israel vastly outweighed the fear that someone would try to brainwash me—or even worse, my fear that Birthright organizers believed young Jewish adults could be so easily convinced of anything. I actually came out of my experience with a more positive view of Birthright as an organization and genuine belief in the need for young Jews to visit Israel.

Our trip was well run and, in the scope of only 10 days, covered a daunting amount of Israeli history, culture and land. My tour guide may not have sold me on his particular political views, but the exposure to Israeli opinion that Birthright provided was invaluable. I am opposed to any enterprise that presents itself as educational while masking the truth from its participants, but I would still encourage anyone who is eligible for the trip to take advantage of the opportunity.

I would caution them, though, to be wary, not only of the ridiculous price hikes for T-shirts in tourist-heavy markets, but of the biases and prejudices they will undoubtedly hear from the trip's own organizers and administration.